ESA'S Role

Ethiopia Standards Agency (ESA) is restructured recently and replaced the formerQuality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE) and recognised as theNational Standards Body (NSB)by the Ethiopian Government. The Ethiopian Standard Body role is performed by ESA on behalf of the Ethiopian Government and principally involves the representation of Ethiopia in Regional and International Standards forum such as ARSO, ISO, IEC, and Codex.ESAalso closely cooperates with the different national standard bodies in formulation, adoption, and harmonization of standards.

ESA as national standard bodies develops and implements national standardization strategy which is in line with the country’s five years growth and transformation strategy plan and enable Ethiopian industries to benefit from technology transfer by providing Standards, Technical Support and Training on implementation of standard. To achieve its mission ESA works closely with all stake holders with in the country and other international institutions so as to establish a well integrated quality infrastructure which boost the industries competitive advantage.

To achieve the stated above objectives ESA will play a key central role in Ethiopia standard development projects by involving all stakeholders including manufacturer, consumers, academia, research institutes, public authorities and conformity assessment bodies. In this standard projects ESA staff represents as a secretary in each technical committee and responsible for overall project management, ensuring the uniformity and consistency of Ethiopian standards.

The key role of ESA are summarized as follow

Establish Technical committee and participate as TC secretary and actively participate at international and regional standardization process.

Develop stakeholder and public participation in Ethiopian Standard and promote quality awareness strategies through implementation of standards.

Develop and implement national standard mark scheme and authorize its use.

Work in collaboration with national and international standard bodies to keep the country interest with the technical regulation developed in line with WTO agreement and establish a National Enquiry Point.

Support the capacity of Ethiopian industry through technical support, training, and consultancy services in developing their own company standards.